WOW! WHAT A WEEKEND

I Climbed the Harbour Bridge.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge was built in 1932 and it spans Port Jackson commonly called Sydney Harbour. The Harbour is one of the largest natural harbours in the world. The bridge is one of the longest single span arch bridges in the world. It is 503m/1650ft long. 134m/440ft high and 49m/161ft wide. The widest in the world. 8 lanes of traffic, 2 train tracks, a cycle track and a pedestrian walkway.

 It is widely known as one of the most beautiful harbours. So after bragging about the beautiful Sydney Harbour, I will get on with my story. 

My daughters (Sonya and Carol) bought me a ticket to climb the bridge for my 70th birthday a few weeks ago, when we were in Sydney but we didn't have a day free to do it then. So on Saturday I flew to Sydney, Bernie picked up me and his parents from Melbourne. Carol and David came for dinner too. I stayed overnight at Carol's. 

 Sunday morning Carol, Sonya, Helen (Sonya's MIL) and I climbed the bridge up to the flags on the top. If you look hard you can see little dots on the top arch which are groups of people climbing. It is a highly organised exercise due to the safety reqirements. You have to wear a special suit with clips on it for glasses, beanie, cap, handkerchief, gloves and a jacket. All items supplied by them. You cannot take anything with you  and that means NO CAMERA. You have a special belt with a radio, earphones and the line and ball gadget which locks you onto the bridge wire.

The ladders

First up you walk through the pylons, through "the squeeze" and then up four steep ladders to get from under the road to the top arch. That was the hardest part, after that it was fairly easy going up to the flags.

Carol, Sonya, Helen and me at the start of the arch.

The views were spectacular the wind was cold 9*C/40*F

 This was our group celebrating reaching the top. The first two were Aussies, then us four from Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and LA. The last of the group were from USA.

On the way down in our fashion garments.

My two wonderful daughters with their old mum on the bridge
with the Sydney CBD/downtown  as a backdrop.

After the climb Sonya had booked a table for lunch at the old Australian Hotel in The Rocks area (just near the bridge) Bernie, his father and the two babies came to join us. Carol and I had kangaroo pizza. Soon it was time to say goodbye. Carol drove me to the airport and I was home by 8 o'clock. Wow! What a fantastic weekend. One couldn't have a better present. A spectacular adventure and being cared for by my loving daughters.

I LEFT MY BLOG IN SAN FRANCISCO

 Before we dashed off to Sydney for 2 weeks, I was telling you about our trip to California. We stayed in LA for 3 weeks to carry out grandparent duties. After that we visited my cousin in San Luis Obispo for a few days and then we flew to San Fransisco, where we were to join a tour of SFO, Sonoma and Napa Valley.

We arrived a few days before the tour started and we did some exploring on our own. We also met some friends from Brisbane and had dinner with them.

We stayed in Le Meridian Hotel, which was close to the bay and the Ferry Building, which has many niice eateries and food shops.

We could see the Bay Bridge from our room. After a rest we went for awalk down this road to the Ferry Building.

On the way we saw this interesting fountain and ......

 some funny sculptures.....

 I searched for info on this one but couldn't find any plaque, I liked it.

We walked through the Ferry Building (more on that later) and  feasted our eyes on the lovely scene. The bay bridge connects SFO with Oakland. It was built in 1936. It is a double decker road bridge with 5 lanes on each level. This is only half the span. It continues through the island and onto the other side of the bay.

We headed back to the hotel via the Embarcaldera Centre, which comprised of 4 blocks of buildings containing shops, banks, resaurants etc. similar to a mall.

We could walk all the way back to our hotel without going on the streets.

There were overpasses from one building to the next, where we watched the busy streets of San Francisco.

 We returned to our room and.......

watched the sunset. Later we walked to Union Square and met John and Denise from Brisbane for dinner. They were on their way to Vancouver. It was funny meeting friends for dinner on the other side of the world. 

THE POLLIES

Way back in the 70's we moved into a new house in Springwood, a suburb of Brisbane. I made friends with a neighbour, Moira, a few doors down the street. We were both having our second baby. We both had girls, my Sonya and Moira's Joanne. From when they were babies they became the best of friends. Moira nicknamed them "The Pollies." The Pollies played together often and attended Playgroup together.

 Later. Miora moved and the girls attended different Primary Schools but we still visited each other for a play. Later still the Pollies attended the same High School and their friendship strengthened.

After school their lives took different paths. Both girls attended different universities and they lived and worked in many different towns and cities in Australia and overseas but they kept in contact with each other and met up whenever they were in the same town. Eventually, they both married and settled in Sydney and just happened to be five minutes away from each other. Another coincidence is that they had their first babies close together too. 

Now Sonya has moved to LA but they still visit each other. At the moment Sonya and Bernie are back in Sydney for a few months and so the Pollies caught up again, now both in their late 30's. I found this old photo of them when they were little and I got them to make the same pose. (except they have winter clothes on this time)

Their babies are now best friends too. Sonya, Fox, Joanne, and Pepper.

WORONORA

I grew up in Sutherland Shire in Sydney. In the 50's and 60's it was a working man's area but surrounded by beautiful wild bushland, where my family, friends and I spent many days playing. One lovely spot close to home (Loftus) was the Woronora River (an aboriginal word meaning 'black rock'). Even today it is a pristine place to play. Unfortunately "The Shire" as it is called today is looked down on by many Sydney ites living north of the shire but I have very fond memories of growing up there. It also has lovely bays, beaches and The Royal National Park. There are working class and upper class people living there but some years ago there was a nasty racial incident which took place at Cronulla and that has tarnished the area.

Photo from the web.

Where the hills rise up out of the valley and meet the town of Sutherland, there is  Woronora Cemetery. It is still has bushland on some of its borders and makes it a very pretty cemetery. My father was buried there in 1983. 

This is an area for family memorials and their ashes.

 This area for ashes is called the "Serenity Walk." Fox was impressed with the gazebo.

 My mother moved to Brisbane to be near me in 1990 when she could no longer care for her house by herself.

  In 1999 when she was dying I asked her where she wanted to be buried but she didn't care or want to talk about it. When she died, I thought it would be nice for her to buried near my dad in Sydney, the city she loved. So I had her ashes sent to the cemetery and they found a spot in the same rose garden. When I was in Sydney last week we went to see my parents' resting place. Sonya and the little ones came too. The roses are not in bloom at the moment but is very pretty when they are.  

Sonya tries to explain to 2 year old Fox that this is where your great grandma is sleeping.

It is sad that my parents never saw Sonya become a mother and meet their great grandsons. However mum did meet my brother's grandchildren. 

It is a beautiful environment and one couldn't stay sad for long.

ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW TO LEARN

For some time I have been going to investigate HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography but kept putting it off until I read MTWaggin Blog and she inspired me to get learning and have a go. So I grabbed my camera and went for an afternoon walk in winter to our local little lake. Here is my first effort at HDR.

Dennis Lake, Daisy Hill, Qld.

Its a start but I have lots to learn yet.

HOME SWEET HOME

Last Tuesday afternoon we left Sydney and drove towards Brisbane and home. We stopped at Maitland and stayed overnight at a friend's place. The next day we drove the rest of the way to Brisbane. It took us eleven hours. The new car was easy to drive and we swapped driving every 2 hours. We were keen to get home to our own bed and our own space. However, we really loved being with our daughters and grand children as we don't see them very often. 

 Granddaddy will miss his boys.

 I wanted a photo of the whole family together but Fox wasn't going to look up for me. The iPad is more entertaining than the camera.

 Okay, just for a second but Banjo didn't manage it.

 Banjo is two months old and is very alert, smiles and tries to sit up. He is very advanced but I could be biased.

 Fox is such a boy. He loves emergency vehicles and plays with toy cars for hours making all the appropriate sounds. He liked me to play with him.

It was lovely to see our drive way lights welcoming us home. The next day it was shopping, washing and paying bills. Today ironing and looking after one sick grandaddy, who brought home a sore throat, cough and the sniffles.

ICE SKATING ON THE BEACH

Yes it's true! Can you believe it? 

 Here on Bondi Beach in Sydney there is an ice skating rink on the beach. It is an amazing sight to see people ice skating in the foreground and others surfboard riding in the background and...... 

...... others playing beach volleyball next to the ice rink. It is hard to see in the background but there are also lots of people standing on the end of the swimming pool ready to dive in for a race. It is the middle of winter and the temperature is about 17*C/63*F (Unfortunately I didn't have my DSLR with me so I had to use my old phone for all of these photos.)

 In the evening Aunty Carol, Grandaddy and I took Fox for a walk on the beach.

 The surf board riders are here all day and all seasons. Unfortunately for them the surf was flat.

Our grandparent duties are over tomorrow as we head for home. We will miss our daughters and especially this gorgeous fellow and his beautiful baby brother. (But we are looking forward to some R&R)